The Richard Wagner Society Inc (VIC) will hold its annual AGM once again at Flockart Hall, MLC.

Attendances or apologies can be provided online here. Please respond by Friday 8 November 2024.

CANCELLED

Unfortunately we have had to cancel this event due to not meeting minimum number of attendees.

We are holding our second Stammtisch! This is an informal gathering for our members to get together to socialise with no agenda, no lectures, no recital (unless someone starts to sing!). We hope to make this a semi-regular event.

This one will be held at the Kelvin Club in Melbourne City. We will be providing some nibbles; purchase your own beverage. Entry will be by donation; you can pay as little or as much as you like which will go towards catering and towards future events/production support.

We do encourage new members to come along and meet the others!

Venue: The Kelvin Club, 14-30 Melbourne Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000

Date/Time: from 6pm on Wednesday 7 August 2024 - drop in when you can

Cost: Entry by donation + “cash sales” for drinks; we provide the snacks
(note: card & cash both accepted!)

Please respond to the mini-survey here so that we have a sense of number of attendees.

You’ve seen him recently as Siegfried, and not long ago singing the titular role in Tannhäuser. We have invited tenor Stefan Vinke to speak with us about his life and career.

This is an online event. A Zoom link to the live interview will be provided to those who have booked. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions to Stefan at the end.

German Heldentenor, Stefan Vinke, graduated as a church musician at the Cologne College of Music before beginning his professional singing career in Karlsruhe and Krefeld / Mönchengladbach. In 1999 he was awarded the position of ‘Young Heroic Tenor’ at the Nationaltheater Mannheim where in 2000 he was voted ‘Male Newcomer of the Year’ by Opernwelt magazine.

Most recent and future plans include Siegmund in Walküre at Greek National Opera, his return to Opera Australia for the new production of the Ring Cycle at Brisbane, Siegfried at Atlanta Opera and  Stuttgart Staatsoper, as well as a return to the Müpa in Budapest as Siegfried in the Ring Cycle, the title roles of Tristan und Isolde for Seattle Opera, Tannhäuser for the Royal Opera House and Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, among others. On the concert platform he joins Benjamin Zander and the Boston Philharmonic for a performance of Das Lied von der Erde, and sings the title role of Tannhäuser in a concert performance for Opera Australia..

Globally renowned as an interpreter of Wagner’s great tenor roles, he has sung the title roles of Tristan, Siegfried, Tannhäuser, Parsifal, Lohengrin and Rienzi, also Siegmund in Die Walküre, Siegfried in Götterdämmerung, Erik Der Fliegende Holländer, and Walther von Stolzing Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Stefan Vinke was Tristan in two productions, Siegfried (Siegfried and Götterdämmerung) and Walther von Stolzing at the Bayreuth Festival.

His numerous Ring cycle appearances include the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Sir Antonio Pappano, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Salzburg- and Bayreuth festival and Bayerische Staatsoper under Kiril Petrenko, Barcelona, Venice, Köln, Bukarest, Budapest, Melbourne…

He has also sung the title role of Idomeneo, Florestan Fidelio, Bacchus Ariadne, Menelas Die Ägytische Helena, Paul Die tote Stadt, Alviano Die Gezeichneten, and Jim Mahony Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny in the theatres of Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Munich, Paris, Montpellier, Lisbon, Barcelona, Venice, Madrid, Sydney, Bejing, Geneva, Chicago, Seattle, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and at the Salzburg Festival.

Bookings: https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/conversation-stefan-vinke
Cost: all $10

UPDATE: This event has unfortunately been cancelled. Those who booked will be reimbursed. Apologies for this change.

From these early beginnings and after years of performing experience, she eventually entered the world of Wagner.  Her love for this extraordinary musical form led her to sing some of the most challenging Wagnerian roles for a mezzo soprano.  Come and join us to hear Sarah talk about her experiences and her approach to learning and performing these roles with an opportunity of Q and A.

Cost: Members $35, Guests $40, Students $25
Venue: Perfomance Space, Library at the Dock
107 Victoria Harbour Promenade Docklands, VIC, 3008 Australia
Bookings: https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/an-intimate-journey-sarah-sweeting

Our annual birthday lunch for Richard Wagner at the lovely Yarra Room, Melbourne Town Hall.

Book now at https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/rw-birthday-lunch-2024

Members $120 / Guests $130 / Students $85

What does it take to stage manage a grand opera like the Ring Cycle?

Anna Frey will present us with a glimpse of her successful career as a stage manager, having wrangled singers, musicians, stagehands and digital sets in the Ring Cycles in Bendigo, Brisbane and in Erl (Austria) in the last few years.

Anna Frey, an Austrian-born Stage Manager and fervent Opera Enthusiast, discovered her passion for music at a young age. Throughout her studies at the Conservatorium in Innsbruck, Anna actively participated in orchestras, bands, and the school choir. It was during this time that she realised her true calling lay behind the scene. Consequently, Anna pursued an undergraduate degree in Economics from the British Open University, followed by a Master's in Cultural and Event Management in Kufstein, Austria. In late 2020, Anna embarked on her professional journey with Tiroler Festspiele Erl, starting as a Technical Assistant before swiftly ascending to Stage Manager the following year. Her inaugural show call was 'Rheingold,' marking the beginning of her involvement in a series of three Ring Cycles. Anna's expertise extends across borders, as she seamlessly navigates between Austria and Australia, contributing her skills to esteemed institutions such as Melbourne Opera, Opera Australia, and Volksoper Vienna.

The presentation will be followed by refreshments.

Cost: Members $35, Guests $40, Students $25

Bookings: https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/managing-the-stage-2024

We are holding our first Stammtisch! This is an informal gathering for our members to get together to socialise with no agenda, no lectures, no recital (unless someone starts to sing!). We hope to make this a semi-regular event.

This one will be held at the Hophaus, in Southgate. We have booked some tables, and will be providing some nibbles. Purchase your own beverage.

We do encourage new members to come along and meet the others!

Venue: Hophaus Bar, Shop MR5, Mid Level,Southgate Restaurant & Shopping Precinct, Southbank

Date/Time: from 6pm on Thursday 18 April 2024 - drop in when you can

Cost: we provide the snacks, you buy your own drinks

Please respond to the mini-survey here so that we have a sense of number of attendees.

Come and have a fun lunch at the German Club Tivoli to celebrate an early Christmas (to avoid clashing with the Brisbane Ring).  There will be food, drinks, a sing-along and other entertainment. Dress up in your dirndl or lederhosen if you like!

Cost: Members $100, Guests $110

Bookings can be made here.

Deadline extended: Please book by Friday 10 November 2023

PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF DATE to accommodate more members’ availabilities.

The Richard Wagner Society Inc (VIC) will hold its annual AGM once again at Flockart Hall, MLC. Details to follow.

A private screening of Barrie Kosky’s new production of Rheingold for the Royal Opera (UK), at the Kino cinema in Melbourne city.

Celebrated Australian director Barrie Kosky joins forces with conductor Antonio Pappano in a bold new imagining of the first chapter of Wagner's Ring cycle, a work which boasts some of the greatest music ever written for the opera stage. When a precious hoard of gold is stolen from the river Rhine, it unleashes a chain of destructive events, pitting gods and mortals against one another for generations. The outstanding cast includes Christopher Maltman as Wotan, Marina Prudenskaya as Fricka and Christopher Purves as Alberich. This production marks the start of a new Ring cycle for The Royal Opera.

Details of the film are here.

Light refreshments will be available. Please note, this is a session booked just for the Society’s members and guests.

Date / time: Sunday 14 October, 4:00pm

Venue: Kino cinema, 45 Collins St, Melbourne 3000 - Cinema 3

Bookings: can be made here

On 24 September we will be screening this very interesting documentary followed by refreshments.

Date & time: Sunday 24 September 4pm

Venue: the Performance Space, Library at the Docklands

Cost: $25 / $30 / $15

Bookings: Book here

Global Wagner – From Bayreuth to the World, a film by Axel Brüggemann, is not a biography of Richard Wagner, nor is it a musicological analysis of his work. This is a documentary dedicated solely to the world’s fascination with the man, and an exploration of the question as to how such massive hype and world-wide cult following developed around this highly controversial artist. The film is a revealing feature-length study of life with Wagner’s legacy from one Bayreuth Festival to the next, and we travel the world to meet devoted Wagnerians and those most intimately involved in commenting on and producing his work today. Featuring:

• Katharina Wagner

• Christian Thielemann

• Alex Ross

• Valery Gergiev

• Plácido Domingo

• Piotr Beczała

• Barrie Kosky

• Anja Harteros

Date: Sunday 21 May 2023

Time: 12:00pm - 2:30pm

Cost: Members $110 Guests $120 Students $80

Venue: Yarra Room, Melbourne Town Hall - 90-130 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Please book: by 13 May or sooner if maximum attendees of 60 is reached

Bookings online: click HERE or copy this link into your browser address field https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/wagner-birthday-lunch-2023

If you are unable to book via the website, please contact president@wagnermelb.org.au

Following on from the last event with Suzanne and Andrew from Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle creatives, we now have coming up very shortly an in-person and online event featuring Maestro Anthony Negus and Carmen Jakobi. Apologies for the short notice, but the event was only confirmed recently.

Date: Saturday 11 February 2023

Time: 2pm

Venue: Jubilee Hall, Lithuanian Club - 44 Errol Street, North Melbourne

Cost: Members $35, Guests $40, Students $25, Zoom $10

The venue is where rehearsals are currently being held, so if you can attend in person you’ll be able to get a feel of the rehearsal room! Plus there will be refreshments after the event. But if you can’t physically attend, you can join us over Zoom.

Book online here.

Robert Macfarlane was the 2020 winner of the RWS Young Artist Award.  Due to COVID lockdowns, he was finally able to claim his prize to attend the Bayreuth Festival this year. In the meantime, Robert had furthered his skills as an opera director and is preparing for his role debut as Mime in the Melbourne Opera’s Ring Cycle whilst juggling a job in a hospital.

Join us as Robert entertains us with tales from Bayreuth, from the rehearsal room, and with some tunes thrown in for good measure.

 WHEN:  Tuesday 18 October 2022, 6pm - 8:30pm

WHERE:  The Performance Space, Library at The Dock

Level 2, 107 Victoria Harbour Promenade
Corner of Collins and Bourke streets, Docklands VIC 3008

PRICE:  $40 Members | $45 Guests | $25 Students    

Book tickets here or paste this URL into your browser:
https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/mining-for-mime

Professor Raymond Holden A.M. returns from the UK to give us another audio/visual presentation on Wagnerian Conductors.

Please join us for this exciting members’ event, which will include Q&A time and light refreshments afterwards.

 WHEN:  Sunday 24 July 2022 – 2:00pm to 4:30pm

WHERE:  The Performance Space, Library at The Dock

Level 2, 107 Victoria Harbour Promenade
Corner of Collins and Bourke streets, Docklands VIC 3008

PRICE:  $40 Members | $45 Guests | $25 Students    

Book tickets here or paste this URL into your browser:
https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/the-masters-apprentices

Date: Sunday 29 May 2022

Time: 12:00pm - 2:30pm

Cost: Members $100 Guests $110 Students $75

Venue: Yarra Room, Melbourne Town Hall - 90-130 Swanston St, Melbourne VIC 3000

Please book: by 19 May or sooner if maximum attendees of 50 is reached

Bookings online: click HERE or copy this link into your browser address field https://www.wagnermelb.org.au/book-now/p/wagner-birthday-lunch-2022

If you are unable to book via the website, please contact president@wagnermelb.org.au

Join us for a discussion with bass Steven Gallop about his career, his roles and his latest involvement with Melbourne Opera's Die Walküre.

This event will be held both in-person and via Zoom

Bookings can be made here.

Please join us once again to celebrate our favourite composer’s birthday
over a 2-course lunch, with music and great company!

with guest artists Lee Abrahmsen & Sarah Sweeting
accompanied by Coady Green

Cost: $100 members, $110 friends, $75 students

Venue: Rylands of Hawthorn, Beswick Dining Room, 349 Riversdale Rd, Hawthorn East, Victoria, 3123

Public Transport: Tram 70 & 75 (Stop 38) / Tram 72 (Stop 61) then 5-minute walk.

Parking: Either side of Riversdale Road, or in adjacent side streets.

Special Dietary Requirements: Email president@wagnermelb.org.au

Bookings: online (PayPal or Credit Card) or post payment by Friday 14 May.

Book early to avoid disappointment as we have a maximum capacity of 54 attendees.

MEMBERS ONLY EVENT

Dr Rachel Orzech is presenting the second part of her Wagner in France talks for the Society (the first, The Fusion (or Confusion) of Art & Patrie: French Responses to the Bayreuth Festival 1933 to 1943 was in 2018).

Rachel, a lecturer at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, is an excellent presenter and is an international authority on this topic.

Presentation: France’s Wagner from 1840s to World War 1

Presenter: Dr Rachel Orzech

Date:Sunday 13 September 2020

Time: 2.00pm – 3.30pm by Zoom

Free for Members, booking required.